


Serenade

by TR33G1RL



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, MerMay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-31
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-04-05 06:50:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19043347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TR33G1RL/pseuds/TR33G1RL
Summary: A merman sits on the railing of Scratchmen Apoo's ship and reads tarot cards. Scratchmen Apoo just wants to hear the merman talk. But what's the difference between a merman and a siren? (The difference is the voice, Apoo finds out.)





	Serenade

“Ya don’t sing much for a mermaid.”

 

The blonde man perching on the railing of Scratchmen Apoo’s ship looks away from the deck of cards in his hands to fix the pirate captain with a deadpan look. Still, just as it has been since the mermaid had been first spotted on Apoo’s ship, he doesn’t say anything. Just stares impassively at Apoo with those black eyes and bright, maroon irises.

 

Despite having a perpetually annoyed expression, the merman is _stunningly_ beautiful. The striking eyes, the wet blonde waves of hair, the elegant and sharp features; hell, even the long, blue-violet-purple tentacles that extend from the sea-dweller’s hips have an odd sort of charm to them (even though Apoo is about 90% sure they’re poisonous). And this uninvited guest is doing nothing to hide it, either. He doesn’t wear armor or clothes, just the tattoos on his forehead and the base of his throat. (In Apoo’s opinion, those just make him seem even hotter and more… _tempting_ , if he’s gonna choose his words carefully.)

 

Apoo raises his hands in mock surrender and shrugs. He takes a second to roll his eyes, needing a break from having the handsome siren glaring at him. Even that little attention from the sea-dweller was too much. “Just saying. Ya don’t talk much for a mermaid, either. Don’t talk much for _anyone_ , let alone a mermaid.” The man pauses for  a moment, looking quizzical as he considers his own words for a moment. “Mermaid? Mer _man_?” He asks more to the empty space between them than to the other man.

 

The unknown sea-dweller perks up and nods, the action catching Apoo’s attention as he looks back at him. “‘Merman?’ That’s your preferred term?” The siren nods, a subtle dip of his chin. “So there’s gendered terms?” He asks, interested in finding out more so he didn’t offend any sea-dwellers. Admittedly, as a devil fruit user, Apoo typically avoided anything too close to water and as a result, he knew very little about sea-dwelling races. His chances of seeing a mermaid (or merman or merperson) were incredibly low.

 

(Or so he thought. Then he walked outside in the low light of early morning to find an unfamiliar silhouette carefully but comfortably perching on the railing of his ship. He’d walked over to the merman, trying to ask who he was and what he wanted, only to receive a disinterested look in return.)

 

It’s been about four hours since then and Apoo hasn’t left the merman’s side even once, but he’s only got a small range of facial expressions in return. It was hard to categorize the names of such expressions, but they range from apathy to possibly a bit of interest to maybe even slight amusement. (The later two are admittedly unconfirmed, but Apoo can see it in the merman’s eyes. He thinks. The fact that the merman’s pupils were surrounded by black instead of white made it hard to tell.)

 

The merman nods again, but pauses after the first movement of his head. He seems to think for a second, then raises a webbed hand and makes a non-committal gesture that’s so graceful Apoo is surprised it’s not some sort coordinated dance move. (If Apoo had thought the stranger was beautiful when he with an emotionless expression, seeing him actually interested in the conversation was devastating to any hope Apoo had of remaining unattached to the sea-dweller.) He looks back at the pirate captain with an expression that seems to ask if the strange yet beautiful action makes sense.

 

Honestly, it doesn’t, but maybe that’s just because Apoo had been staring at the blonde’s face as he thought. “Uh, I kinda get it, I think. Some stuff is gendered, but it doesn’t have to be?” He phrases it as a question, making sure he’s got it right before he commits the information to memory.

 

The man nods softly again and his lips twitch up at the corners just for the briefest of moments. He seems pleased - happy, even - that Apoo understands what he’s trying to communicate. His hands return to shuffling the deck of cards in his hands, his eyes focused mostly on the cards though they occasionally flicker up to the pirate captain.

 

Apoo smiles and chuckles sheepishly as he raises his hand to rub at the back of his neck. “Ya know, it’d be a lot easier to talk if you’d actually… well, _talk_.” He looks off to the side, worried he’s offended the attractive stranger. But he’s only speaking his mind, and it’s the truth! As much as he loves talking, a one-sided conversation can only go on for so long before you’re talking to yourself.

 

However, much to Apoo’s relief, the sea-dweller nods in agreement as he takes the top card from the deck, flips it over, looks at it, then puts it back into a random spot in the deck. He looks back at Apoo and gives him an almost disappointed shake of his head as he mouths two words. ‘CAN NOT,’ his lips form the words slowly, exaggerating them enough that the human will be able to understand.

 

Apoo has to mimic the action of mouthing the same words that the stranger had before they finally register in his mind. His eyebrows furrow as he asks, “Ya _can’t_ talk to me? What do ya mean?”

 

His dark eyes track the merman's movements as the blonde's hands move again. Both of his index fingers tap his own throat, between the rows of delicate gills and just over his vocal chords, before tracing lines up to his mouth. He taps the corners of his mouth - which draw Apoo's attention to the shape of his lips - then moves both of his hands away from his own face and towards the pirate captain's. The merman has to lean forward a bit as his graceful fingers move to trace the outer shell of Apoo's ears, the action sending shivers through the human's entire nervous system. Then his fingers move up towards his temples, tapping them softly with the pads of his fingers. Apoo is flustered but not ashamed that he leans into the barely there touch, but it disappears soon as the merman removes one hand and uses it to point down at the ship under them then at a cliff face off in the distance.

 

Apoo blinks at the merman, not understanding  what the other man means other than he _still_ can't talk to Apoo. "I… I don't understand that one." If he's honest, he's kinda disappointed by that fact that the merman can't respond - with his _voice_ , at least - to Apoo when he asks questions, but eh, the man is still interesting company.

 

The stranger is a bit frustrated by this, it the very slight frown on his lips is anything to go by. He looks up at Apoo and opens his mouth as if to respond vocally, only to close it again. He looks down at his cards, out at the water, then back to Apoo. There's a brief moment of utter stillness where nothing happens. Then the merman sighs - the closest thing to a word he's given since Apoo found him - and beckons Apoo closer to him.

 

"Hm? What's up?" Apoo perks up from where he is leaning on the railing and immediately stands up so he can walk a few steps closer, leaving a respectable distance between them just in case. He won't lie, as _beautiful_ as the dark blue and purple tendrils that extend from the merman's hips are, Apoo knows a _Man O War_ when he sees one. And, as much as he'd **die** for a chance with the merman, he doesn't want to risk his ire and end up suffering a very painful and poisonous sting.

 

However, the merman beckons him even closer, turning his body but leaving his tendrils over the edge of the railing as a sign of good faith. Apoo takes another step closer. Again, the elegant hand waves him closer. As Apoo again obeys, his curiosity piqued, he realizes that his final step forward brings him nearly flush against the merman's chest. He pauses as he feels his heart beat faster, partly because the merman offers him a short nod of approval and partly because his upper leg is mere _centimeters_ from the poisonous tentacles.

 

The sea-dweller beckons for Apoo to bend down, so he crouches a bit, feeling a bit awkward but hell, the guy is cute so Apoo is willing to feel a bit weird if it makes him happy. When their faces are level, the merman reaches out and cups Apoo's jaw in his cool, webbed hands. Apoo hopes that the merman can't feel the heat that overcomes his cheeks. However, the merman apparently _can_ and Apoo can tell because of the way the man's lip twitches up just barely at one corner while one of the sets of triangle tattoos twitches ever so subtly. It makes Apoo flush even more as he looks anywhere but the merman, which is hard because of how close they are.

 

Thankfully, the merman's teasing look disappears soon and his face falls into one of hesitant concentration as his hands move from cradling Apoo's jaw to sliding back and up. At first, Apoo isn't sure what the stranger is doing, but then he feels the hands pushing his headphones off of his head. They fall to rest around his neck as the webbed hands cover his ears, cupping over them to keep almost all sound out. Apoo still doesn't know what's going on, but he was oddly comfortable with whatever it is.

 

Then the sea-dweller hesitates, looking back down at the tarot cards in his lap for a minute. More specifically, he looks at the card on the top, the only one that's flipped over. 'Ace of Cups,' it reads. Apoo has _no_ idea what that means, but it seems to reassure the merman so he is _more than fine_ with whatever it is.

 

The blonde looks back at Apoo and the pirate captain _finally_ finds the nerves to meet his gaze. The black of the eyes seems to grow a bit, and Apoo realizes that he caught the other man off guard with his boldness. At first Apoo thinks he did the wrong thing by letting their eyes meet, but then the merman's lips twitch again and Apoo **knows** that he did _exactly_ the right thing, even though the merman didn't expect it.

 

Then the merman leans forward and for a second, Apoo gets very nervous that the stranger is aiming for a kiss, but instead, the merman moves his head to the side. Apoo wonders what he's doing, but only a second later does he hear the merman.

 

 _"Can you hear me, Scratchmen?"_ Comes a voice more beautiful than anything Apoo has ever heard. It's more melodic than any hymn, more entrancing than any bass, more delicate than any orchestra, just **_more_ ** . Apoo can't even respond, his brain hazy as he tries to search for even _one word_ to describe the beauty of the merman's voice. The voice is…   _ethereal._

 

After a moment of waiting for an answer and receiving none, the merman knowingly chuckles. The low, beautiful sound steals the breath from Apoo's lungs and he's left with no oxygen as he waits - with bated breath- for the sea-dweller to say something, anything else.

 

 _"Do you see why I do not speak so openly?"_ The merman asks, voice muffled like it's coming from underneath the surface of the ocean. It's only then that Apoo remembers that _he's not even hearing the merman's voice_ **_clearly_ ** _._ He's only hearing the muffled whispers of the merman's deep, resounding voice. Apoo wants to hear his true voice, not the diluted remnants. _"Sirens must be careful with their voice. After all, there's a reason many ships would have killed me when they found me perched on their railing. Yet you didn't, Scratchmen. Why is that?"_

 

Apoo blinks, but his eyes remain glazed over as he tries to gather himself enough to process the merman's words. "Uh…" he drawls dumbly as he registers the words 'killed', 'me', 'didn't', and 'why' enough to get the gist of what the merman is saying. "Didn't wanna, I guess," He says with a small shrug as he barely holds back from _begging_ the blonde man to speak again. He blinks a few more times before he's able to come back to his senses enough to see that the merman has pulled back and is looking at him again. The look in the black-and-maroon eyes is equal parts skepticism, fascination and relief. "What?" Apoo asks, as much confused by the man's expression as he is delighted to be the focus of said look.

 

The merman pulls one hand away from Apoo's head and draws a random card from his deck. He flips it over to reveal a picture, the words above it reading 'Wheel of Fortune.' He draws a second, but this one is held at an angle that makes the sunlight shine off of it so Apoo can't see what it says. Whatever it says makes the merman's lips pull into a small smile that stuns Apoo as the merman looks back at him, directing the elegant curve of his lips at the human. Apoo feels his face flush as the merman's hands slide away from his ears to cup his cheeks. His thumbs rub over Apoo's cheekbones in a way that's half playful, half serious.

 

 _"It appears,"_ (Oh Goddammit, Apoo thought he wanted to hear the man's voice when it wasn't muffled, but now that he was actually hearing it, it was _too much_ . It was _too beautiful and Apoo's brain was going to fucking_ **_melt_ ** -) _"That fortune favors me today_ . _"_ The merman's voice had a small twinge of something that could be described as amusement, and it was making Apoo feel incredibly giddy that he was involved in making the merman happy. _"And it would appear that she also smiles upon you, though it may be indirectly. Now please hold still, close your eyes, and allow me to benefit from my luck."_

 

Apoo has no clue as to what that means, but he's all too happy to let his eyes fall shut and go as still as a statue so the merman can do as he pleases. The second his eyelids fall, he feels soft lips on his own in a quick, barely there kiss. Before Apoo can react they pull away. He nearly protests their departure, but they return once more to press another quick kiss to Apoo's lips. Apoo realizes that the merman is giving him time to adjust, albeit in an indirect, almost teasing way.

 

'The merman,' Apoo thinks to himself as he waits for the next kiss, 'is actually quite playful. He says to let him do as he pleases, but his actions tell me to join him. He issues a challenge in a request to not challenge him. What a sly man.'

 

The next kiss comes soon enough and Apoo meets eat easily as he lets his hands find a resting place on the merman's hips. The kiss is soft, restrained, but Apoo can almost hear the taunts that the merman won't say but is definitely implying with the way his hands slide to Apoo's jaw, a more controlling position.

 

Of course, Apoo is a pirate captain and a member of the worst generation; he can't let someone beat him at such a simple game! (Not even a handsome merman with a voice so beautiful that Apoo wishes more than _anything_ that he could record it and listen to it every second of every day.) In retaliation, he softly pulls the stranger's lower lip between his own and nips at it.It catches the merman off guard, a feat that Apoo knows he'll brag about for years to come, but the merman retaliates just as easily.

 

The blonde man pulls back from their kiss to look at Apoo before giving that same vague half-smile, half-smirk before he moves back in for another kiss. This one is less chaste and more heated, and the temperature only rises as the merman lets his tongue flick along Apoo's lower lip like a paintbrush across a canvas. Apoo parts his lips even more so the merman's soft tongue can move into his mouth. Their tongues rub against each other playfully and the merman flicks his tongue against Apoo's piano key teeth before pulling away from the kiss altogether. Of course, Apoo chases after him, but the merman stops him by gently putting a hand over the human's mouth.. (Okay, it's _possible_ that he would _let_ the merman beat him. But the merman only won because Apoo _let him win,_ dammit!)

 

The sea-dweller chuckles, but this time it sounds different, sounds _human_ . Then the merman is speaking again, and it _sounds human_ . "What a strange man you are, Scratchmen Apoo. How strange it is that fate should bring us together," The blonde man says, but despite his reserved expression, Apoo can see the faint curve of his mouth and hear the amusement in his voice. (God, the merman's voice is still breathtaking. Apoo could listen to it forever, even _without_ the ethereal, unearthly quality it had before.)

 

But something doesn't sit right with Apoo and he has to ask. "What… What did ya do? Your voice…?" He asks, eyes roaming over the man's face. Then something else catches his eyes, drawing them downwards to where the man's tendrils hang from his hips.

 

Where they _had_ been hanging.

 

Where they _no longer hang_.

 

Now, in their place are two legs that connect to the merman's hips just like any human's.

 

Apoo's mouth falls open in shock and his eyes go wide as he looks back up at the merman's face. "What did you _do_ ?" He asks again, this time feeling the strangest combination of elation and fear that swirl around his head and down his spine. What did he do? What does it _mean_? What is he trying to say?

 

The merman - now just _man_ \- smirks in return as his hands, still cupping Apoo's jaw, draw him in for another kiss. It's quick, but Apoo still returns the kiss, though he's not sure why. But, in all of this confusion, he finds himself going along with it like a small boat that can't help the way it's tossed on the waves during a storm. His hands are loose on the blonde man's hips, but he still holds on. He feels the stranger chuckle against his lips before pulling away, ending their kiss.

 

Then the man is looking up at Apoo with eyes that are more human than they had been only two minutes prior. There's veined ivory where there had been dark obsidian, and Apoo has never been so scared of another human's eyes.

 

"Scratchmen Apoo," the blonde man says, a faint smirk on his lips. "You have given something to me that I had not thought possible; you have given me a desire something I never thought I would want to be. You have also taken something from me. Something I never even considered that I would lose."

 

So many words yet so little is explained. Apoo tries to open his mouth to ask more questions, though he isn't exactly sure _what_ questions he wants to ask. But the stranger puts his hand over Apoo's mouth again and continues to speak.

 

"Now, in return, I'll give you something," the shorter man picks up the card from earlier, the one that Apoo couldn't see, and places facedown in one of Apoo's hands. The pirate captain holds onto it, if only out of confusion, as he listens to the rest of what the stranger is saying. "However, I will also take something from you. A word and a concept will now escape you, until you see me again."

 

The now unwebbed hands pull Apoo back down for another kiss, and again he only complies with it. Then, just before they pull apart again, he tastes something bitter and metallic as a liquid fills his mouth. The stranger's _blood_. Then there's a sharp sting and more blood fills his mouth, this time it being his own. It's so much that it overflows, spilling down both his and the stranger's chins. Apoo wants to spit it out, but as he and the stranger pulls away, he finds that it's already trickling down his throat, so he swallows the rest. He almost regrets it, but the blonde man smiles, so he figures that it's fine.

 

"Good," the stranger says shortly, but he has a soft smile on his lips. He stands up, naked and bare but uncaring, and lets Apoo's hands fall away from his body. He looks out towards the ocean with a sad sigh before he looks back to Apoo. He smiles one last time as he says, "Remember me, Scratchmen. I expect to be serenaded upon my return."

 

And then he's diving into the water, into dark waters that pull him in and allow him to travel unseen. Apoo doesn't bother watching the man leave, knowing that he won't be able to see the stranger until the stranger wants to be seen.

 

Apoo has more questions than answers, but he decides only two are worthy of even _minimal_ though right now.

 

First, what did the stranger mean when he said he'd take 'a word and a concept' from Apoo?

 

Second, what does 'serenade' mean?

**Author's Note:**

> I think I made it too vague, but the "idea and concept" Hawkins took from Apoo was the idea and concept of love songs and serenading someone.


End file.
